Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s faulty batteries tested in-house

The Korean electronics titan used its own lab to make sure the phones were safe to sell.

Samsung apparently has only itself to blame.

The dangerous batteries used in its ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 devices were tested by the company in-house, Samsung confirmed Monday.

“Samsung has been testing Galaxy devices including the Galaxy Note7 for CTIA certification aligning with mobile carriers’ requirements in North America through [a] CTIA certified internal testing lab since February 2009,” the company said in a statement sent to CNET.

Last week, Samsung permanently stopped making the Note 7, after dozens of reports of overheating and exploding phones led to two separate recalls.

To sell phones in the US, companies must test phone batteries at a certified lab. According to The Wall Street Journal, Samsung is the only phone maker to have its own lab certified by the CTIA, the wireless industry group that oversees testing.

This means that unlike other phone makers, Samsung does not send batteries to third-party sites for tests. It also means the company seems to be entirely responsible for not discovering the battery problems that plagued the Note 7 during its short life. The Note 7 launched August 19, just weeks before archrival Apple launched the iPhone 7.

Samsung’s lab didn’t spot any problems with either the original or replacement phones, a company spokesperson told the Journal.

On Saturday, the US government began enforcing a ban on all versions of the Note 7 on flights, describing the phone as a “forbidden hazardous material.” The ban expanded a previous restriction on the Note 7. Before Saturday, people were allowed to bring the phones onto planes but were required to power them down and not charge them or stow them in checked baggage.

Samsung, which expects billions of dollars in losses from the Note 7 debacle, has been encouraging all owners to return the phones, including offering a $100 credit incentive to people who bring in their Note 7 devices and then select another Samsung device. However, a survey conducted last week showed that 40 percent of current Samsung customers do not plan on buying another Samsung phone.

Current consumer mindset isn’t necessarily an indication of long-term views, but Samsung’s plan to go head to head with Apple’s iPhone 7 has vanished like smoke.

For more information on the recall, visit Samsung’s Note 7 recall page.

I purchased the Note7 when it launched and went through the recall process and exchanged my original Note7. I’ve exchanged it a second time because after speaking to Samsung direct there was going to be no warranty support for it. Both of the phones I had operated flawlessly and there was never even the slightest hint of over-heating in either device. I get Samsung’s position for having to shutdown and discontinue sales of the phone. There is NO replacement for the note series on the market. I acknowledge iPhone is a nice piece of hardware, but is not IMO in the class of the note series. Far to restrictive in it’s operation and I would never allow any company to tie me to being dependent on them for anything that I want to do with my phone the way that Apple does their users. No I’ve never owned one but my adult daughter and others do and I have had enough time with one in my hand to know it’s not for me. My daughter wants out of hers but she’s stuck with it for now. I replaced my Note 7 with a Galaxy S7 at my BB store where I shop. It’s no Note 7, but it’s the closest I’m going to get to one until the battery problem is rectified and another version is available. The Note7 is the S7 on steroids X 2. I will miss the stylus which I used ALL of time for many different every day functions. There were several other Note7 owners exchanging their phones while I was there. Each one of them was doing the same thing that I was and switching over to the S7. I called my carrier (Sprint) prior to the exchange and they easily agreed to re-instate my full upgrade privilege that I had used on the Note7. This will allow to upgrade again at any time I choose without any penalties for a phone of my choice. They gave me an “Inter-Action ID #” and annotated my account for future reference in case anyone is interested. This situation does change my confidence in Samsung one iota. It’s technology, and as unfortunate as it is…stuff happens. They’ll take their time, get it right and move forward. A couple of years from now it’ll be like a “blip” on a radar screen.

So Samsung has their own facility where they make and test batteries? I assumed they just had another company do it.

I’ve had mostly good experiences with Samsung, and I avoid Apple for ideological reasons. Apple also isn’t for a power user. I could find out that making every Samsung phone requires a sacrifice of a baby dolphin and I’d still probably choose Samsung over Apple. I think most Samsung users choose Samsung over Apple and other smart phones manufacturers every time. There’s not really any competitive phones, sales wise, other then Apple and Samsung anyway. I don’t think this will hurt them too bad.

I think semi short circuit is causing fast battery drain and large battery has more energy to start fire. Higher rate in air probably are caused by less pressure or cosmic ray.S Korea tumbling. Samsung make up like 20% of economy. Samsung is just 8% in china. Death Note7 fire losing $7 billion. Hyundai strike and recall. Empty commercial space doubled. Hanjin bankrupt. Ship builders losing billions. VW exit korea. China caught up in technology plus reducing S Korea after THAAD. Brain drain.real7777.wordpress.comToday,”HellKorea” saying is a fad in Korea. Bacchus ladies(prostitute over 65) says “prostitution is better than starving to death.” 100,0000 Korea prostitutes in foreign countries. UNICEF/S Korean government estimate around 500,000 S korean high school girl “wonjo gyoje” (compensated dating) prostitution. Huge personal loans up to 30% interest. S koreans drink most alcohol. S koreans have highly college graduate rate but only 50% find job. 2nd highest suicide rate in world. S korea must pay back us$6 billion frozen Iran money. S korea have 7 times serious crime rate and 17 times rape rate of japan. Koreans are taught false history. 80% on young want to leave. 26% starved sometimes in 2015. 19% drop in export.Comfort prostitute was paid about 1 week of wage from a solder. Korean manager/owner/recruiters(some tricked) were used. Back then, starving parents sold kids even in Japan. 1944 USA war report say prostitute ate well and buy luxury items. Former prostitute lies to get 10 times retirement benefit.Koreans function primary on hate and NS Korea have been at war for over 60 years. Politically, both north and south probably need to be at war to survive. Maybe S korea does not want peace because prostitutes will earn less foreign currency if US military in S Korea get reduced.Koreans are racist and discriminate on basis of skin, region, job, clan, country, etc. Lots Koreans have Hwabyeong(super hot temper disorder.) Koreans in Japanese armies were known as brute. USA/S Korean sometimes used Kill’em all including gunning down babies during Korean/Vietnam War. S Koreans raped like 200,000 and resulted in 20-30k babies left behind in Vietnam. Many Asian country bans marriage to koreans. Lots of things in korea are unsafe with Chaebol tyrant korean elites don’t care and often cut corners, disregard rules, disregard safety, bribe,corruption etc. and get away due to kenchana(substandard tolerance.) “nut rage” type incidents are not isolated outside airplane. 300 people died in ship accident in 2014 due to chaebol overloading and disregarding safety over profit. 1336 people sued korean nuclear plants since it is leaky and causing 2.5 times cancer rate. Dumping raw sewage to ocean is causing cholera,S Korean economic growth came from 1965 $800m Japanese money,technology transfer, Korean War prostitute earning money from GI, and Vietnam war. What’s unbelievable is these broke hero ex-prostitutes are being evicted from base town.Eating dogs is fine for poor countries, but S koreans eat 3 million dogs a year at expensive restaurant and kill violently to enhance flavor.

I wonder what’s more likely. Someone gets hurt by a phone battery, or someone gets hurt in a car accident. Like if I owned a Galaxy Note 7 and drove to work every day, which one of the two do the statistics say I am more likely to experience?

@The_Sailor_Man@skane2600 We’d know only if they actually tested them. I was merely offering one possible explanation. Of course, testing after you know there’s a problem is quite different that testing when you don’t know there’s a problem.

I still have my Note 7. Love my Note 7. Will “upgrade” my Note 7 when there is a phone that would be an actual upgrade. This is a voluntary recall. First thing you learn in the Marines is; Don’t Volunteer”. There has been no Official explanation for the Note 7 problem and really, every day since the recall was announced the terms have changed in some way. Let the dust settle and then I’ll check the landscape and decide which direction I’ll go.

@pussinbooots Oh gosh, oh golly, oh my, I guess I won’t. Geeze, you know explosion is not a term that accurately describes what happens with these phones. Maybe more like; smoke and burst into flames. Until there is some type of official report on the number of Note 7’s that did malfunction due to manufacturer error and what that error is, I’m holding on to my phone. Also in the week since this last great recall, there hasn’t been any other reported EXPLOSIONS. A million of these Note 7’s are still in active use……..

Several years ago, my sister’s iphone 3 showed it was fully charged. When she picked it up to disconnect her charging cord, the phone burned her hand. The iphone was under warranty so the phone was replaced. She’s been uncomfortable initially, when picking up her phones when charging.

Wow! Back in early 2000s for a brief time had to get an Alcatel One Touch phone as stop gap until my Nokia Communicator was shipped. Within a week on a weekend when the phone was still charging, heard a pop noise and typical acrid smell. Found out the Alcatel phone on the shelf kind of exploded, deformed and the battery bulged and oozing out still hot. Never knew of recalls or dealer did not even honor warranty, blaming user error of over charging…as recently as 2010 my blackberry curve also overheated, battery bulged out and AT&T did nothing to replace it when I took it to them…

It seems to me that the main point should be that a certified testing lab missed something causing explosions. Either the tests/requirements need to be changed or the phones need to be tested by two labs.

Coming from a reputable corporation, I am pretty sure they will REALLY test things out to make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future phone. And on top of that, I have a feeling they are going to up their game on the Note 8 because of this HUGE disappointment.

Here’s looking forward to the Note 8 =) I was hoping to upgrade my phone from the Note 5 to the Note 7 this year but blah; looks like I’ll go LG V20 first and then return back to Samsung next year…unless LG V20 really wows me 😉 The app drawer disappearing already is a WTF!

It depends on whether Samsung was given a phone with the ‘correct parts’ in it and the correct materials in order to test. Personally with a phone like this I would randomly pull one of the first say…. 200 off the lines for quality inspection purposes and then pull off another one every so often as production goes on.

Why do you do that? So that the people who you are outsourcing the manufacture of X or Y to have no idea which thing is going to be pulled for testing and therefore are more likely to be honest and not try to skimp on materials quality.

I hate defending Big Business, but… Only a small percentage of the batteries were defective. Is it not plausible that the sample space just wasn’t large enough to include bad batteries? It’s also possible an unknown failure mechanism was responsible.

@William Sommerwerck Only a small number (100-200 I think) have ignited so far, but that doesn’t mean there were only a small percentage that are defective. Samsung apparently believes (or at least believed) it was a widespread issue with the way the batteries were manufactured. The defective ones that haven’t exploded yet, are like ticking time bombs waiting for the right moment for thermal runaway to kick in. Even if the batteries turn out not to be the problem, a widespread manufacturing issue may still be the root cause.

@RetroUltraModern@William Sommerwerck Even if we take the high number of 200, it’s only 0.008% of all Note 7’s experienced a problem. Truly even 1 injured person is too many in my mind. Samsung obviously had enough of a concern to just end it all with the Note 7.

@cooleyrocks This is what google said,”Based on information provided by the Centers for Disease Control, the odds of being struck by a car in the United States is about one in 4,292. The odds of dying as the result of being struck by a car are about one in 47,273.” The chances of a Note 7 burning through your pocket is 1 in 125,000. So yes, not only are you more than likely to be hit by a car, but you are more than likely going to die from that injury. I’m so sorry. We better recall all walking. No more walking for anyone!!!!

And that one time out of 125,000 where the phone goes off in someone’s suitcase aboard a plane or in a place harboring dangerous chemicals or in an inconspicuous location in a public venue. That’s what the government is worried about.

@Rich524@RetroUltraModern@William Sommerwerck Not concern about people, it’s all about their PR image. If there is 0.01% of phones with a problem and it gets nightly news about it every day. They are better off cutting their loss to not damage their brand any more.

Samsung is a global brand with sales in the multi billions of dollars, this is damage to the Samsung brand, this is how they end it and look good in the end (by taking all the phones back for a full refund).

Now they covered their butt too, they issued a campaign to refund all phones and for everyone to return them, if 3 months from now another one catches on fire, their but is covered, people were told to return their phones. People after a few months can have no legal case against Samsung..

Because someone could have died, imagine if that Note 7 went off while the plane was in the air. Everyone stuck in a contained vessel breathing poisonous smoke, a man was sent to hospital puking up black from breathing his when it went off while sleeping. It’s a fucking horrible device, 200 in 2 months. If by the end of its cycle with 15 million sales the amount of exploded devices would have been in the thousands.

My last 4 phones have been Samsung including 2 of the Notes. Plus the Note Edge has been garbage. Everyone i know that has one hates it. But i’m moving to the LG V20 as soon as it comes out. Not because of what happened with the Note 7, but because you can’t replace the battery. Battery life over time goes down, and to combat this you can get a new battery for 15 to 20 bucks online. But they decided to seal the phones so you couldn’t do this. Bye bye samsung phones

I said the Note Edge was garbage. Which it is I have the last year and a half of first hand knowledge of it. I like Samsung phones which is why I’ve bought so many and would continue to do so if the battery was replaceable. Wow